Peter Ralston's exceptionally lucid trilogy on the nature of human consciousness culminates here in
The Genius of Being, a book of deep contemplations on the unseen elements that create our world. The first volume,
The Book of Not Knowing, garnered much praise as a comprehensive exploration of the depths of self and consciousness.

pedantic

You may as well have someone read an algebra text book to you. This book is as moving as having a cavity filled.

0 of 9 people found this review helpful

The Aesthetic Brain

How We Evolved to Desire Beauty and Enjoy Art

By:
Anjan Chatterjee

Narrated by:
Bernard Setaro Clark

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
46

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
41

Story

4 out of 5 stars
39

The Aesthetic Brain takes the listener on a wide-ranging journey through the world of beauty, pleasure, and art. Chatterjee uses neuroscience to probe how an aesthetic sense is etched in our minds and evolutionary psychology to explain why aesthetic concerns feature centrally in our lives. Along the way, Chatterjee addresses fundamental questions: What is beauty? Is beauty universal? How is beauty related to pleasure? What is art? Should art be beautiful? Do we have an instinct for art?

A fine contribution

This Author Does Not Understand Art

Overall

2 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-12-17

This person has a very pedantic understanding of art, which frankly, most often misses the point altogether. I disagree with much of his thesis as well regarding why we love great art, our purpose for creating it, and what more or less defines art.

If given the opportunity to do it over again I would not waste my time or money on this one.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Missoula

Rape and the Justice System in a College Town

By:
Jon Krakauer

Narrated by:
Mozhan Marno,
Scott Brick

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,274

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,918

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,900

From best-selling author Jon Krakauer, a stark, powerful, meticulously reported narrative about a series of sexual assaults at the University of Montana - stories that illuminate the human drama behind the national plague of campus rape.

Without Consent

A Nightmare For Our Daughters and Sons

Overall

4 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 03-29-16

This book was thought provoking and engaging. As a father of a 14 year old son and 12 year old daughter I can't help but worry some for both of my kids in the years to come. I was disturbed obviously by the men who raped. Rape is rape; it is an absolutely horrible thing to do. I'm petrified for my daughter. I was also disturbed by the incredibly poor choices some of the women made. There is a grey area of accountability for one's own actions here where the author clearly takes sides with the women. I would weight my position that way too. Yet, I think he failed to discuss in depth the male's point of view within these gray areas where some of these women were at minimum naively confusing the situation with their actions and words. I think his position is helpful in pointing out the problem but not in helping to reduce its future occurrence. In failing to address this he is in a sense saying a woman's version of "boys will be boys". That is, that regardless of what questionable circumstance I put myself in before harm is done to me and regardless of what I said beforehand I bear no responsibility for harm happening to me. This attitude does not negate the crime committed by the male but it certainly helps to understand how the crime can happen at the alarming rate it seems to be.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Answer

Proof of God in Heaven

By:
Marius Forte,
Sam Sorbo

Narrated by:
Sam Sorbo

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
13

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
11

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
11

The secret to life is simple, but since human beings have had organized thoughts, the same questions have surfaced again and again: Why do we exist? What is the purpose of life? Is there a God? If so, is He good? But if He is a good God, how could He permit so much suffering in this world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Where are we coming from, and where are we going? And why are we going at all? Is there life after death? Can we be 100% sure? Was this world just created by chance or does it follow a plan? If you have also pondered some or all of these mysteries, look no further.

Wow... Thank you. so much!

Outstanding Book

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-02-14

This is a very practical book of how spiritually and scientifically the teachings of the Bible come together via reincarnation and how on a practical level they can be observed in every day life. The book does not make the case through scripture but through logic. If you want a very strong case made scripturally using the Bible for reincarnation the most profound and brilliant book available is "Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation" by Dr. Herbert Puryear. It is not available in audio but reading it will be time extremely well spent.

Letting Go

A Spirituality of Subtraction

By:
Richard Rohr

Narrated by:
Richard Rohr

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Original Recording

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
90

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
72

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
68

In our culture, the “good life” means getting more. This series of retreat talks challenges listeners to subtract--to release whatever hinders us from siding with the cosmic Christ, whether that be in our inner world or our outer world. Father Rohr offers a daring vision which calls us to surrender, to liberation, to making room for real freedom.

Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction

It's like being told how to parent by a non-parent

Overall

2 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Story

2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-18-14

Bless his heart for trying but Mr. Rohr is too blind to his own narrow world, too confused by economics, too presumptive of other people's inner worlds and incredibly arrogant and distorted by his own Catholic lens. Mr. Rohr touches on some bits of truth but they are so tainted by his own lack of experience. Perhaps the Catholic priests should get married and have children, work and live outside of their castles in order to make a living so that they could get down off their high horse and actually have some practical understanding of what it means to find that still, quiet place inside even amidst the madness of the world.

If you would like a fantastic book on Christian Mysticism (which is what Richard Rohr is attempting to teach here even if he doesn't know it) listen to "Resurrecting Jesus, Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic" by Adyashanti. He has a much better understanding of the mystery—of Jesus—and his book is not political.

2 of 13 people found this review helpful

Practical Mysticism

By:
Evelyn Underhill

Narrated by:
Marni Green

Length: 3 hrs and 18 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
41

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
16

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
16

In
Practical Mysticism, Evelyn Underhill distills the essential (and comprehensible) steps that comprise the process of achieving mystical understanding. Though she uses the pantheon of Christian mystics as her guide, her methodology transcends any particular faith and offers a common sense approach to self-improvement and enhanced awareness.

Narrator's voice doesn't fit

Narration will drive you mad. It's ironic but true

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

1 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-16-14

I'm about half way through this book and while I think it has some good things to say the narrator has one cadence and only one cadence. She never pauses, and she reads complicated passes too quickly to give you time to process and think on them. It's a bit like listening to a computer read to you. In a book like this where the nuances of voice and pause make all the difference it'll drive you mad. Perhaps it's intended and the mystic should have a quiet enough mind to handle it. Fair enough, but life itself can challenge you on this daily. No need to listen to this book for that experience.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Resurrecting Jesus

Embodying the Spirit of a Revolutionary Mystic

By:
Adyashanti

Narrated by:
Adyashanti

Length: 11 hrs

Original Recording

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
331

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
282

Story

5 out of 5 stars
281

The life of Jesus offers each one of us a map to the direct realization of our eternal and divine nature. On
Resurrecting Jesus, Adyashanti excavates the deep, mythic underpinnings of the Gospels to show how we can all find in the story of Jesus the spark for our own spiritual unfolding. Jesus crossed all of the boundary lines that separated the people of his time because he viewed the world from the perspective of what unites us, not what divides us.

Review of Resurrecting Jesus

Outstanding Interpretation of the Bible

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-24-14

This is one of the few books (particularly in audio) that interprets the New Testament of the Bible from a Christian Mystic's point of view. The messages are profound and current even though the Mystics are older than the Bible. I liked Resurrecting Jesus a lot better than "Falling Into Grace" also by Adyashanti.

There's only one book on this subject that I have found more profound: "Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation" By Dr. Herb Puryear. Unfortunately it is not available in audio. "Resurrecting Jesus", however, is a much easier read (listen) because it is less about making a solid intellectual case for the understanding of Jesus's teaching and more about the spirituality of it.

Enjoy.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

Picasso: Creator and Destroyer

By:
Arianna Stassinopoulos Huffington

Narrated by:
Wanda McCaddon

Length: 19 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
60

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
56

Story

4 out of 5 stars
55

This landmark biography penetrates the barriers of legend to bring to full and intimate life a man whose burning passions - for painting, women, and ideas - were matched by a compulsion to invent reality in his life no less than in his art. Here is the tragic story of a man who, from his teenage passion for a gypsy boy to the chilling bitterness and betrayals of his old age, was unable to love and was driven to dominate and humiliate the women - and men - who fell under his hypnotic spell.

Biased, Subjective and Unsubstantiated.

Fairly well written but depressing

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-02-14

This book is well written in that it is informative and insightful of the painter's life. However, beware that Picasso himself led the life of an over indulged child who never grew up. He was perhaps the first pop-star. I had a hard time getting through it, sort of like reading about Justin Beiber in that in retrospect of his life his actions become predictable and pathetic and his mission is not about art but only about himself. He embodied so much of what is wrong in society and much of art today. I've seen good paintings by him in person and wanted to look fairly at what he brought to the table: Seems like a net loss to me.

The Lady in Gold, considered an unforgettable masterpiece, one of the 20th century's most recognizable paintings, made headlines all over the world when Ronald Lauder bought it for $135 million a century after Klimt, the most famous Austrian painter of his time, completed the society portrait. Anne-Marie O'Connor, writer for the
Washington Post, formerly of the
Los Angeles Times, tells the galvanizing story of the Lady in Gold, Adele Bloch-Bauer, a dazzling Viennese Jewish society figure.

Get a better narrator.

Very little on Klimt.

Overall

2 out of 5 stars

Performance

3 out of 5 stars

Story

2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-09-14

This is a disjointed story. There's a fair amount of history in here, enough different interests for a few different books. Very little on Klimt and what went into the painting from an artistic standpoint. As an artist myself, I found this book lacking. We all know the painting is brilliant, but we want to know what it was like to be Klimt and paint it. I recommend, "Van Gogh, The Life" by Steven Naifeh and Gregory Smith. That is an outstanding book on an equally great artist.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Killing Jesus

A History

By:
Bill O'Reilly,
Martin Dugard

Narrated by:
Bill O'Reilly

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
5,452

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
4,822

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
4,841

Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's
Killing Kennedy and
Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of
The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.

The Jesus story in context

Entertaining but also O'Reilly's interpretations

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-09-14

It's not all history. O'Reilly makes several of his interpretations on the meaning written in the Bible in this book. One in particular that I didn't like was on Jesus's conversation in John 3. I think it's an entertaining, well written book, just with some of Bill's interpretations of meaning within the Bible. I'd still recommend listing to it if you're interested in Jesus.